{"id":571603,"date":"2021-06-23T12:21:15","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T16:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=571603"},"modified":"2021-06-23T12:21:18","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T16:21:18","slug":"scotus-rules-in-favor-of-teen-who-cursed-online-and-was-suspended-off-cheerleading-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-rules-in-favor-of-teen-who-cursed-online-and-was-suspended-off-cheerleading-team\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Rules In Favor Of Teen Who Cursed Online And Was Suspended Off Cheerleading Team"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscotus-rules-in-favor-of-teen-who-cursed-online-and-was-suspended-off-cheerleading-team%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=571603&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1324879234-scaled-e1624463288808.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p>The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in favor of a former Pennsylvania high school student who was suspended from her school\u2019s cheerleading team after she posted a series of Snapchats with expletives, finding she could not be punished by the school for cursing online.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supct\/cert\/20-255\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">case<\/a> involved Brandi Levy, who in 2017 posted to Snapchat \u201cf**k school, f**k softball, f**k cheer, f**k everything,\u201d after she failed to make the varsity cheerleading squad at Mahanoy Area High School.<\/p>\n<p>Levy was later suspended from the squad for the upcoming year for her language. Levy\u2019s parents sued the school, arguing Levy\u2019s freedom of speech was violated.<\/p>\n<p>A district court granted an injunction ordering the school to reinstate Levy to the cheerleading team, using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supremecourt\/text\/393\/503\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District<\/em><\/a> to make their decision. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/17\/supreme-court-catholic-religious-freedom-philadelphia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Conservative Groups Rejoice Over \u2018Substantial Win For Religious Freedom\u2019 In Supreme Court Ruling On Catholic Abortion)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court ruled in <em>Tinker<\/em> in 1969 students could wear black arm bands to protest the Vietnam War, with the court saying students don\u2019t \u201cshed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.\u201d The court did find, however, disruptive speech on school grounds could be subject to punishment.<\/p>\n<p>The Third Circuit affirmed the District Court\u2019s ruling on Levy\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/20pdf\/20-255_g3bi.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ruled 8-1<\/a> the precedent set by <em>Tinker<\/em> did apply in this decision and that Levy\u2019s speech is protected under the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile public schools may have a special interest in regulating some off-campus student speech, the special interests offered by the school are not sufficient to overcome B.L.\u2019s interest in free expression in this case,\u201d the court ruled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe school itself has an interest in protecting a student\u2019s unpopular expression, especially when the expression takes place off campus, because America\u2019s public schools are the nurseries of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The high court noted Levy\u2019s post did not specifically mention the school, nor did it threaten anyone.<\/p>\n<p>The Mahanoy District argued they should be allowed to punish speech that takes place off-campus to help combat cyber-bullying and prevent disruption on school grounds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe school argues that it was trying to prevent disruption, if not within the classroom, then within the bounds of a school-sponsored extracurricular activity,\u201dJustice Stephen Breyer wrote for the majority. \u201cBut we can find no evidence in the record of the sort of \u2018substantial disruption\u2019 of a school activity or a threatened harm to the rights of others that might justify the school\u2019s action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt might be tempting to dismiss B.L.\u2019s words as unworthy of the robust First Amendment protections discussed herein,\u201d Breyer continued. \u201cBut sometimes it is necessary to protect the superfluous in order to preserve the necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, claiming students who take part in extracurricular activities \u201chave a greater potential, by virtue of their participation, to harm those programs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The majority did note, however, that there are some cases involving \u201coff-campus circumstances\u201d in which the \u201cschool\u2019s regulatory interests remain significant\u201d such as \u201csevere bullying or harassment targeting particular individuals\u201d or other threats.<\/p>\n<p>The ACLU, which argued the case, celebrated the ruling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtecting young people\u2019s free speech rights when they are outside of school is vital, and this is a huge victory for the free speech rights of millions of students who attend our nation\u2019s public schools,\u201d Legal Director of the Pennsylvania ACLU David Cole said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclupa.org\/en\/press-releases\/supreme-court-decision-rules-protect-students-full-free-speech-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">statement<\/a>. \u201cThe school in this case asked the court to allow it to punish speech that it considered \u2018disruptive,\u2019 regardless of where it occurs.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" readability=\"8.6973180076628\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">So proud to have been able to represent Brandi Levy as she stood up for the speech rights of 50 million young people across this country \u2014 AND WON! And so grateful to my fantastic team from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ACLU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ACLU<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/aclupa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@aclupa<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Schnader?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Schnader<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 David Cole (@DavidColeACLU) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DavidColeACLU\/status\/1407722505104674825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIf the court had accepted that argument, it would have put in peril all manner of young people\u2019s speech, including their expression on politics, school operations, and general teen frustrations. The message from this ruling is clear \u2013 free speech is for everyone, and that includes public school students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in favor of a former Pennsylvania high school student who was suspended from her school\u2019s cheerleading team after she posted a series of Snapchats with &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2281091,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1324879234-scaled-e1624463288808.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"SCOTUS Rules In Favor Of Teen Who Cursed Online And Was Suspended Off Cheerleading Team","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-571603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1324879234-scaled-e1624463288808.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"SCOTUS Rules In Favor Of Teen Who Cursed Online And Was Suspended Off Cheerleading Team","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}